Belarus: the population and its number

How many cities in modern Belarus? What nationalities live here? What is the population of Belarus? You will find answers to these and some other demographic questions in our article.

Belarus: population, size

The demographic situation in Belarus is by and large the same as in other countries of the post-Soviet space. Here the same problems are observed as in neighboring Russia or Ukraine.

Today, the population of Belarus is 9 million 480 thousand people. By the way, President Alexander Lukashenko recently said that no less than twenty million people should live in the state. Nevertheless, the real demographic forecasts are not as bright as the head of the Republic of Belarus wants to see.

Historically, the population of the country grew up until 1993. It was then that the number of inhabitants here reached a record high of 10.2 million people.After that, the population of Belarus began to decline rapidly. The main reason for the deterioration of the demographic situation in the country is the excess of mortality over birth rate. However, in recent years, the statistics of natural growth has improved slightly. In addition, the overall decline in the number of people has smoothed out a bit due to an increase in immigration flows into the country.

The dynamics of the population of Belarus is more clearly illustrated in the following graph. The time period from 1993 to 2008 is shown here.

Main demographic indicators

In terms of demography, there is little that the country of Belarus can boast, whose population continues to decline. The average life expectancy here is 72 years (and women live 11 years longer). This figure is higher than that of its neighbors, Russians and Ukrainians, but significantly lower than in developed European countries.

A rather acute demographic problem for Belarus is a serious gap in life expectancy for men and women. After all, according to UN standards, it should not exceed five years within one state.It is worth noting that in the countryside this gap is even more noticeable - almost 14 years.

Boys in Belarus are born a little more (106 per hundred girls). Although this is a global trend. Families with one child prevail in the republic (there are about 66% of them in the country). Families with three or more children for Belarus are not uncommon, but not frequent enough. According to the most recent data, one of the two contracted marriages in this country is dissolved.

The most problematic in the demographic terms, the area of ​​Belarus is Vitebsk. Here, from year to year, the highest mortality rates are recorded, as well as record low birth rates.

Ethno-linguistic structure of the population

What nationalities live in the country with the name of Belarus? Its population has always been distinguished by ethnic diversity. Together with the indigenous nation, Ukrainians, Poles, Russians, Moldovans, Jews, Lithuanians, etc., have long lived here.

Today in Belarus live at least 130 different nationalities. The first five ethnic groups of the country are as follows:

Belarusians (83.7%).

Russians (8.2%).

Poles (3.1%).

Ukrainians (1.7%).

Jews (0.14%).

In which regions of Belarus do the representatives of these nationalities live?

So, the Russians are concentrated in the northeastern part of the country; the Poles are in the west; Ukrainians, predictably, in the south. Jews traditionally live in big cities (especially there are a lot of them in Gomel, Brest, Minsk and Grodno).

According to the last population census, which was conducted in the country in 2009, only 60% of its inhabitants named Belarusian as their mother tongue. Moreover, in everyday communication it is used by no more than 30% (and then mostly in the villages). Thus, Belarus is characterized by the problem of preserving its native language. After all, many linguists have already attributed it to the category of endangered.

The largest cities of Belarus

The total population of the cities of Belarus today is 7.2 million people. At the same time, as many experts note, urbanization processes will only intensify in the near future.

In Belarus, there are 14 cities with a population of over one hundred thousand people and only one million-plus city. Over 70% of the total urban population of the country is concentrated here.

The largest cities by the number of inhabitants are Minsk (1.9 million inhabitants), Gomel (505 thousand), Vitebsk (372 thousand), Mogilyov (370 thousand), Grodno (352 thousand) and Brest (325 thousand).

At the same time, the rural population in Belarus continues to decline. On average, this figure is up to 50 thousand people annually (in recent years).

The capital of the state, as well as its cultural, transport, scientific and educational center is the hero-city of Minsk, which is located almost in the center of the country.

Conclusion

Belarus ranks 18th in Europe in terms of the number of its inhabitants. Today, almost 9.5 million people live in the country. The demographic problems of Belarus in general are typical for the post-Soviet space: these are low birth rate, high mortality rates, rural extinction, as well as low average life expectancy (especially for men).